From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Feb 6: The Bengaluru urban district has begun a novel exercise of forming almost one thousand Electoral Literacy Clubs in various colleges in the district to educate the importance of voting in a democracy.
As part of the preparations for the ensuing Lok Sabha Elections, the chief electoral officer of Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat M S Archana chaired a District-Level Officers Meeting on Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) on Wednesday to chalk out various programmes in the district to increase the poll percentage.
The chief executive officer asked the officers to plan Roll-related and Poll-related activities within a week.
She asked the officers target the young voters at Pre-University and Degree Colleges for new registration in the first stage and educate them about #the significance of voting in building a strong democracy and strong India.
In the second stage, Archana said awareness should be created among the students about the ethical voting. Every Electoral Literacy Clubs, formed in the colleges, shall have ambassadors and student representatives to voluntarily organize debates, essay competitions, quiz street plays, cycle rallies and walkathons, besides, using social media and all other innovative methods to sensitize the voters.
The deputy commissioner South Zone of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Raju Neelaiah, who spoke on the occasion, suggested the officers to identify the polling both, where lowest turn-out was recorded in the last election, and plan for Chunav Patshala - voter education campaigns polling booth-wise by enlisting the support of all segments of society and by making available election related literature in all beauty parlours, gas agencies, hotels, milk vendors in their jurisdiction.
The deputy secretary for the Bengaluru Urban zilla panchayat Dr Siddaramaiah, Project Director S Muniraju and the District Nodal Officer H Gopinath also enlightened the officers about the many facets of elections and to improve the poll percentage in the district.